Souza, Other Girls Grapple With Stereotypes

By Lori Riley

Courant

At first, Dyami Souza's mom wasn't thrilled that her daughter wanted to be a wrestler.

"She wanted to be a boxer and I thought this was a little better than being a boxer," Linda Souza said with a laugh. "At least she'll have a face left."

So Linda let her wrestle. Five years later, Dyami is a senior starter at 112 pounds for Windham High, No. 7 in the state coaches poll.  Fifteen years ago, Jennifer Ottiano became the first — and only — girl to place in the top six in a state championship meet. Ottiano, who also wrestled for Windham, was fifth in Class L at 112. A longtime competitor in judo, she was the rare girl who could compete with the boys at the time.

This year, 89 girls are wrestling on boys teams in Connecticut and a handful of those girls are competitive.

Jessica Bennett, a 103-pound senior at Montville, is considered the top female wrestler in the state. She finished sixth in the ECC tournament last year and is 22-6 this season.

"She's one of the hardest-working kids I have in the room," Montville coach Gary Wilcox said.

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